Most of rescued birds are living in foster homes

Damascus foundation received hundreds of calls from people wanting to help

Brian Wilson (center) of the Brian Wilson Parrot Foundation in Damascus works with his birds at the Easter Eggs-travaganza at Brook Grove Foundation in Sandy Spring.

Nearly all of the 81 birds rescued by the Brian Wilson Parrot Foundation in late January have found new homes.

"I kept five of them, knowing people would bring them back," Wilson said, adding that the birds were not used to human interaction.

Wilson took custody of the birds after receiving a call that the owner had vanished and the birds were dying and living in filthy conditions in Gaithersburg. Ten of the birds had life-threatening bacterial infections, he said. The volunteers that help Wilson care for his 40 large parrots helped nurse the rescued birds back to health.

After word of the rescue spread, Wilson received more than 650 calls from people volunteering to take the birds. Due to the number of birds involved, he shortened his normally months-long process for pairing a bird with a potential new owner.

"If a bird shows it loves somebody more than me, they can foster [the bird]," he said.

Wilson plans to work with the birds that are not socialized to train them not to bite and scream so they, too, will be able to go to foster homes.

A life-long parrot lover, Wilson credits his birds with teaching him to walk and talk again following a 1995 crash. He started Wilson Parrot Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to the rescue of neglected parrots as well as parrot and safety education, in 1999.